The 2nd Gen Moto X is my new favorite phone

Over the last week or so, I decided to set aside the iPhone 6 and give something else a try. There isn't anything on the market that I haven't tried in some way or another already, but this was meant to give me some extra time with it. Before the iPhone 6 launched I was wholly invested in the iPhone 5s, and there wasn't a phone out in the wild that could have swayed me from it. I think the iPhone 6 is a great device, but I'm not entirely sure I'm sold on it just yet. (Which probably means I never will be.)

So, going to something else wasn't that hard of a decision. In fact, it took me about 15 seconds to just up and decide to deactivate all the necessary Apple stuff so that I could try something else. The longest part of the whole process was picking a phone I wanted to try. Obviously there are a lot to choose from, and obviously asking people which one I should try would result in a wide array of responses. So I just sat down, sifted through the options before I came to the device I should have always known I was going to try:

The Nexus 6.

I lucked out and a carrier store nearby had one in stock. After a lengthy conversation I finally convinced them to hold it for me (just in case, knowing my luck) and then went and retrieved it. I went with the Nexus 6 because my favorite Android phones, or really the only ones that I've liked at all, have been Nexus-branded devices. So, despite having a gigantic screen --and it really does-- I went and gave it a real shot. I used it for several days as my daily driver, and the one thing that I can say about the Nexus 6, and this is something that I never thought I'd admit, is that it made me completely forget about the iPhone 6.

In most cases, when I try out a new phone there's about a day's window that's open for me to really fall in love with a handset or just flat-out not want anything to do with it. That's about how long it takes me to make up my mind on a smartphone. I've already got a laundry list of apps ready to be downloaded (restored, really), and then it's just about daily usage, keyboard, holding it in one hand or two, and whatever else. So for the Nexus 6, despite its huge screen, to have that effect on me is pretty monumental in its own right.

But eventually the display's size weighed me down, and I just had to give something else a shot. So I picked up a 2nd Gen Moto X.

Simply put, the second-generation Moto X is just ridiculously good. There's not really much about the handset that I don't like. Sure, it's just above the whole 4.7-inch display size that I think is about perfect, but the whole construction of the handset feels great in the hand, and it honestly reminds me of Motorola's hay day way back when. The camera is good (not exceptional) and the software is great -- I'm going to get into Android 5.0 Lollipop in another article.

I haven't had a favorite Android-based smartphone in a long time. There have been some I've liked, and some that I've even used for extended periods of time because I didn't think they were awful (but it really just came down to me needing a break from iOS). But it has been a long time since I've had a favorite, or one that I've actually wanted to keep using. The new Moto X fits the bill and then some. Motorola has been swinging for the fences for quite some time, and Moto Maker was a home run all by itself, but the 2nd Gen Moto X deserves a ridiculous amount of praise, as far as I'm concerned.

It's my favorite Android phone, and I'm seriously expecting Motorola to make some big waves in 2015 as they continue to ride this gravy train to whatever the next Moto X device looks like.

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